Hunter With Mercer Ties Selected For Missouri’s First Elk Hunt

The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced names of the 5 hunters that have been drawn for elk-hunting permits for Missouri’s first elk hunting season this fall.

The 4 hunters for general permits beat odds of 1 in 4,795 to get the opportunity to hunt elk in Missouri this fall. The lone individual selected for the resident-landowner antlered elk permit was drawn from 33 who entered.

The winners of the general permits were Eugene Guilkey of Liberty, Samual Schultz of Winfield, Michael Buschjost of St. Thomas, and Joseph Benthall of Mount Vernon. Bill Clark of Van Buren was drawn for the resident-landowner antlered elk permit.

Each of the five can purchase their elk-hunting permit starting July 1 for a cost of $50. The five hunters can then each harvest one bull elk that has at least one antler being a minimum of six inches long. The five hunters may hunt using archery methods Oct. 17-25 and firearms methods Dec. 12-20. Each permit is valid for both the archery and firearms portions of the elk-hunting season.

Eugene Guilkey is a longtime hunter in the northwest Missouri region. He is also the father of Mercer School Principal Wes Guilkey. He told the Missouri Department of Conservation that he plans to hunt in both the archery and rifle portions, but says the archery portion may be used more for scouting.

The hunting territory includes Carter, Reynolds, or Shannon counties.

There will be plenty of incentive for those drawn to make the most of the opportunity. Those drawn will now need to sit out future random elk hunting drawings for 10 years before re-entering the process again.